Tucker is the Co-founder of Book In A Box, a company that turns ideas into books. He wrote three #1 NY Times Best Sellers, including I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell. His books have sold over 3 million copies, have been translated into over 30 languages, and are credited with creating the literary genre “fratire”.

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Resources Mentioned:

Your Big Idea: Successful Entrepreneurs have One Big Idea. Follow JLD’s FREE training & you’ll discover Your Big Idea in less than an hour!
Audible – Get a FREE Audiobook & 30 day trial if you’re not currently a member!
JohnLeeDumas – Follow John on Snapchat
Slack – The tool that Book in a Box loves
Scribe Writing – Formerly Book in a Box
The Trauma of Everyday Life – Tucker’s book recommendation

3 Key Points:

Don’t let your arrogance get in the way of a great idea.
Accept your flaws and setbacks as your business grows, and make the choices that are best for your business.
Recognize the opportunities that are in front of you.

Time Stamped Show Notes:

(click the time stamp to jump directly to that point in the episode.)

[01:04] – Tucker has a wife, a two-year-old, and a baby on the way.
[01:56] – How do you generate revenue in your business? – Royalty from his books, and his company Book in a Box.
- [02:17] – 300 books and $5 million in sales.
[02:38] – Where did that idea come from? – The lowest moment and the highest moment got him to this company.
- [03:20] – A woman came up to him and told him that people wanted her to write a book.
- [03:50] – She said she didn’t have time to put a book together.
- [04:24] – “How to write a book without writing it.”
- [04:37] – He lectured the woman, and she waited patiently.
- [04:53] – She said the if he really was an entrepreneur, he would help her solve her problem.
- [05:31] – He became obsessed with the idea.
- [05:48] – He had to overcome what it really meant to be a writer.
- [06:00] – Scribes wrote the words of great figures of history.
- [06:31] – He wrote every step down of how to write a book.
- [06:54] – He interviewed the woman and then did the work for her.
- [07:13] – It had to be her ideas, words, and voice.
- [07:27] – The book ended up beautifully.
- [08:00] – Even at that point, he still didn’t see the business opportunity.
- [08:11] – He went on his friend’s podcast, and his friend thought his idea already was a company.
- [08:29] – The company was advertised before it really started.
- [08:54] – The next day, Tucker was getting emails about Book in a Box.
- [09:28] – He was embarrassed that he didn’t see that as a business opportunity in the beginning.
- [10:07] – Now they are two years into it.
- [10:20] – It would have started earlier if he hadn’t been so arrogant.
- [10:37] – John had a similar experience with his podcasts. People wanted to know how he did it, and it took him a year to come up with his podcasting program.
[11:50] – What has Book in a Box accomplished in revenue?
- [12:11] – 14 employees with over 100 freelancers.
- [12:23] – They just had a million-dollar quarter.
[13:12] – The biggest struggles post-launch of Book in a Box – He realized he was failing as a CEO
- [13:58] – Scaling the business and managing people.
- [14:14] – They were failing at scaling.
- [14:28] – He fired himself as CEO and hired someone who had experience scaling a company.
- [14:58] – Getting you to where your dreams are means you have to do what’s best for your business.
[15:35] – Biggest weakness?– He used to be bad at thinking that businesses focus on money and numbers.
- [16:09] – It’s the exchange of value and the solving of a problem.
- [16:54] – Thinking about the author and giving them what they want.
[17:28] – What has Tucker most fired up today? There is nothing better than family.
- [18:07] – In the business world, he realized that he was solving a huge problem.
- [19:12] – He is starting to expand beyond books.
- [19:45] – The Ripple Effect.
[21:54] – The Lightning Round
- What was holding you back from becoming an entrepreneur? – Defending the process of a writer.
- What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? – Is it about you or about the company?
- What’s a personal habit that contributes to your success? – Scheduling 8 AM to 1130 AM as his creative time.
- Share an internet resource, like Evernote, with Fire Nation – Slack
- If you could recommend one book to our listeners, what would it be and why? – Scribe Writing – Formerly Book in a Box. The Trauma of Everyday Life
[26:58] –[email protected] to get in touch with Tucker.
[27:45] – Scribe Writing – Formerly Book in a Box